ThatFatGirl
Why am I still here?
Today is World AIDS Day. This day brings about a lot of thoughts and emotions for me. I get angry at the religious fanatics (members of my own family included) who still see AIDS as punishment for being gay. I get pissed at the government for not doing enough and people in general for simply being stupid or dishonest. I hear about AIDS taking the lives of millions a world away and feel helpless.
My thoughts also go to my favorite teacher from art school, Joe Brown. He was a designer at a successful Chicago fashion co. who taught part-time at my school. He was a brilliant illustrator whose sketchbook took my breath away. More than that, he tried to make a fat girl with no self esteem feel like she could make it in the fashion biz.. he wasn't successful, but I loved and admired him for trying. He also went out of his way to encourage my gay roommate who was filled with self-loathing, to learn to love and believe in himself. Joe had AIDS. We had no idea. We lost touch with him a couple of years after graduation and later learned from his former partner that he had moved back home to be cared for by a family member when he got very sick. It breaks my heart that his life was cut short and that so many people will never experience the gift of having Joe Brown as a friend or teacher.
And now to think of all the other lives wiped away.. all the potential lost.. it's appalling.
Just wondering.. how has HIV/AIDS touched your life?
My thoughts also go to my favorite teacher from art school, Joe Brown. He was a designer at a successful Chicago fashion co. who taught part-time at my school. He was a brilliant illustrator whose sketchbook took my breath away. More than that, he tried to make a fat girl with no self esteem feel like she could make it in the fashion biz.. he wasn't successful, but I loved and admired him for trying. He also went out of his way to encourage my gay roommate who was filled with self-loathing, to learn to love and believe in himself. Joe had AIDS. We had no idea. We lost touch with him a couple of years after graduation and later learned from his former partner that he had moved back home to be cared for by a family member when he got very sick. It breaks my heart that his life was cut short and that so many people will never experience the gift of having Joe Brown as a friend or teacher.
And now to think of all the other lives wiped away.. all the potential lost.. it's appalling.
Just wondering.. how has HIV/AIDS touched your life?
